Page 196 of The Hallmarked Man

‘Peroni,’ he said.

‘I’m fine with this water,’ Robin said, before the waitress could ask.

The waitress departed to fetch Valentine’s beer. Robin took out her notebook.

‘So, could I ask when you last saw Rupert?’ she asked.

‘Youcould,’ said Valentine. ‘Are you going to?’

‘OK,’ said Robin. ‘When did you last—?’

‘On May the twenty-first last year, as you already know, because Sacha told Corporal Brokeby.’

Robin chose to ignore the insulting nickname for Strike.

‘And you haven’t had any contact with him since?’

‘Of course I bloody haven’t.’

‘Why “of course”?’

‘You can drop the Miss Marple thing, you’re not going to catch me out.’

‘What d’you—?’

‘Decima’s already told you I think Fleetwood’s a conniving little shit on the make, I’m sure. The family’s glad to see the back of him.’

Robin’s mobile rang. She pulled it out of her pocket, saw her mother’s number, and refused the call.

‘You argued with Rupert on the twenty-first of May, right?’ she said to Valentine. ‘What was that about?’

‘He’d gatecrashed Sacha’s party, and I don’t like freeloaders.’

‘Why did Rupert turn up there, do you know? He’d stolen that nef from your father, so it seems odd—’

‘Well, he’s thick as shit, you see,’ said Valentine. He raked his hair out of his eyes, glaring at Robin through the huge black pupils. ‘He didn’t believe my father would call the police, because of publicity, but my father doesn’t give a shit what the press say about him and he certainly wouldn’t care what they write about Fleetwood. I told him at the party my father had rung the police as soon as he realised the nef had gone, so he panicked and fucked off again. Decima ought to have paid him what the nef was worth, to make him give it back. Apparently she hasn’t learned her lesson.’

‘What lesson?’

‘That if you want to turn a gigolo into a permanent fixture, you need to keep coughing up,’ said Valentine. ‘She married another leech in her twenties, did she mention that?’

‘No,’ said Robin.

‘Well, she did, so the family’s been here before. Mullins was a better-looking Fleetwood. Shitty business ideas, trying to make everyone invest, then bolt for someone better-looking once he realised Decima wasn’t actually a cashpoint, just shaped like one.’

The waitress arrived with Valentine’s lager. As he clearly wasn’t going to thank her, Robin did it.

‘Are you ready to order?’ asked the waitress.

‘I’m not eating,’ said Valentine.

‘Spaghetti carbonara, please,’ said Robin, who felt one of them should justify taking up a table. The waitress left again, and Robin said,

‘So you think Rupert left your sister for another woman?’

‘It’s what most of her boyfriends do.’

‘Your sister Cosima was upset by what Rupert said to her, at the party, right?’